Tag Archives: murder mystery

Not Exactly Cinema But Not a Bad Sunday

Posted on April 17, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I thought I might make a Sunday Cinema Post, but I am only on my first movie and getting tired.  I did watch the rest of a Columbo episode I started last night.  I suppose that counts.

She was divine!

The movie I am currently enjoying is Death on the Nile, a star-studded Agatha Christie romp (come on, autocorrect, Agatha is a well-known name!).  This is the wonderful Angela Lansbury as Salome Otterbourne, alcoholic writer of sexy romance novels.  I would SO love to play that character!  I kind of did when I was Ruby VanRenssalaer in Rubbed Out at Ruby’s, a murder mystery of my own devise.

Two more delightful divas.

Here are two more stars who stud the movie, Bette Davis and Maggie Smith.  So delightful to watch these two old pros playing off each other.

I have done a few useful things today.   I ran,  I did laundry,  I went grocery shopping, I wrote a letter which I walked to the post office.  From the post office, I walked to Herkimer Elks Lodge, where I secured space for Wednesday’s rehearsal of Shooting at the Grange, our upcoming murder mystery.

Back home, I watched Columbo before putting in the aforementioned Agatha Christie but also made a salad for the week’s lunches.  I call this not a bad Sunday.  Is it not a bad blog post?  You decide.

Today there is not “one more thing.”

 

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At the Grange

Posted on April 16, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Yesterday I drove to Salisbury Grange for their open house.  In addition to my interest in historic buildings, I wanted to scope out the space for Shooting at the Grange ,  our upcoming murder mystery.

I like the stage.

It is a gorgeous place, all beautifully stained wood.  I don’t know why I didn’t take a shot of the ceiling.

It looks solemn to me.

They had it set up the way it used to be for meetings back in the day.  Each officer had their own podium.  Some of them were also Masons, and they borrowed some of the ceremony and symbolism.

“Ooh, the Masons,”  I said.  “They were intense.”  Full disclosure:  my knowledge about the Masons comes mostly from the movie From Hell.

Mason stuff.

 

Another view.

I spent a lot of time chatting with the Grange volunteers.  They are very excited about the murder mystery and have already sold a number of tickets.  They have great plans for the Grange; they hope it will become a real community center with many different events.

Maybe even a sing-along!

I was taking pictures to show my cast as well as for use here.  I hope we will be able to rehearse at the Grange next week.  It will make a great blog post.

Just to re-iterate the information.

 

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April Lame!

Posted on April 15, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

OK, I said I was going to make my Lame Post Friday post on Friday and here I am.  Unfortunately,  I got nuthin’.  That should not matter on Lame Post Friday, but somehow it does.

Remarkably similar, yes?

I thought a picture might spark more words and found this one from April 2021.  I confess it does not look a whole lot different from more recent pictures of crocuses,  yet I cannot stop from taking pictures of what they look like this year.

J’accuse!

Here is a different April shot.  I just SEARCHED through my posts from April 2019 to find that the title of this murder mystery was Murder by the Book.  I am not inclined to also do a Google (or even a Duck Duck Go) search to see if “J’accuse” is the proper French spelling.

Earlier today I went to a wine tasting at Valley Wine and Liquor in Herkimer.  I also spent some time sitting on my front porch, enjoying the weather. I sipped a little wine while I did so.  I also spent some time planning my Mohawk Valley Adventures for tomorrow.

I need to get such a short ‘do again!

Just to give another picture from April, here are my friend Kim and I at Gerber’s 1933 Tavern in Utica in April 2017 for their Prohibition Party.  I love to dress up!

Ooh look, I have gotten myself over 200 words.  Not bad for a Lame Post Friday post,  I say.  Thank you for tuning in.

 

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Why I Didn’t Make a Blog Post This Time

Posted on April 14, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I guess the entire week is late posts.  Yesterday I went in search of rehearsal space for Shooting at the Grange, the murder mystery we are working on.  I wanted to ask at Basloe Library, which closed at five on Thursdays, so I hustled home from work so I could get in a shower and make myself presentable, no easy task.  I managed it in pretty good time, though, and was soon on my way.

It turns out the library is under construction, so my first thought of a room was unavailable.  I had a very nice conversation with the lady there, though.

“The construction workers have all their stuff in there,”the lady said.

“Rats!” I said.

“I hope not rats!” she said.  Good point.  We chatted some more about other things as well as aboit the murder mystery.  If we cannot find another space, we might be able to sit in their cafe and run lines, just keeping our voices down.

I tried the Marine Corps League in Ilion.  They have big signs up, saying, “Members Only, No Exceptions,”  which I found a little intimidating, but they were very nice.  I have to call a guy to see if there is a room available when we need it.  I thought I should buy a drink, since I had parked in a space marked “Customers Only,” but a guy was buying the house a round and included me. I thought that was very nice of him.

After I got home, I decided to walk to the Elks Lodge, which is near my house.  We rehearsed there for murder mysteries that were performed there, so I thought maybe they would be so kind.  It turns out they would, if the space is available.  I stayed for a glass of wine there as well.  The people at the  Elks are very nice, too.

So when I got home, I still had to fix supper, and I was tired.  I have been running around every day this week.  What the hell, me?  Tonight I mean to stay home and make my Friday blog post on Friday.  As always, I hope you’ll stat tuned.

Just to throw in an illustration.

 

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By the Way, Happy Easter

Posted on April 9, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Late posts on the weekend.  It’s a thing.  Anyways, here I sit early Sunday morning, lounged on the couch, pecking in one letter at a time with the stylus on my Tablet.  I have pecked in that sentence many times, according to the predictive text thingy, but it is the case so I make bold to repeat it.

My favorites are the two-tone ones.

I thought instead of an actual post, I would share the rest of the pictures I took with my phone the other day.  I saved all the pictures on my phone to my blog before returning the phone and cancelling my cell service (long story, and I don’t look so good in it).

But the deep purple is pretty, too.

 

This one looks a little wilted.

There weren’t any yellow ones, of which I usually get one or two.  Also, the ones in the front yard haven’t gotten beyond a few pretty green shoots.  Further updates as events warrant.

I didn’t plant these.

I also saw some white flowers over by the fence. I don’t know how they got there, but I was happy to see them.  There is only a parking lot on the other side of the fence, so it is unlikely the neighbors planted them.

I admit, not the best picture.

I guess these flower pictures are appropriate, being as it is Easter Sunday.

And then there’s this.

I end with a preview of coming attractions.  I am hard at work on the next murder mystery.  I hope to make a post about rehearsals next week.  I hope you’ll stay tuned.

 

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Blog Before Run, Or Am I Too Lame?

Posted on March 18, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

Last week I hoped I was ushering in a new era of Not Late Lame Post Friday posts.  Alas, it was not to be.  Here it is Saturday morning, and I sit on my couch (lounge, really), listening to what I think is some kind of pigeon (maybe a mourning dove? It sounds pretty sad) and wishing I was already out running. One thing I love is running or walking in the morning and hearing the birds sing (or is it a morning dove with no emotion attributed?  I don’t know from birds).

One reason I am blogging before my run is that I am waiting for it to be light out.  I just can’t trust the sidewalks and roads this time of year.  I have wiped out on the ice too many times this year just walking (one hideous incident on my uneven concrete front steps).  I emphatically do not want to do it while running.  At my age I could break a hip.  Well, maybe not a hip, but something.  At least I would bruise my body and damage my fragile self-esteem.

My day stretches before me in a fairly threatening fashion.  That run to take, post cards to write, a house to clean, a murder mystery to write AND this afternoon auditions for murder mystery actors.  It is a general audition;  I want to develop a pool of actors to draw from as murder mysteries arise to be cast.

Now I feel threatened, because there is a something inside me (my depression?  the aforementioned fragile self-esteem?) strenuously insisting that I CANNOT POSSIBLY do a murder mystery at this time.  I MIGHT be able to write it (low self-esteem aside, I rarely admit to being unable to write something) (yes, yes, there are times when I say I CAN’T write a blog post, but I just mean I can’t write it right now).  But print it out, get a cast, schedule and go to rehearsals…

What am I saying?  Of course I can do all that!  The voices in my head are full of beans!

Talked myself right into that, didn’t I?  Guess I’ll go for my run now.

For local readers interested in theatre, auditions are today, March 18, at 1 p.m. at Ilion Little Theatre,  13 Remington Ave., Ilion, NY.  For more information,  you can visit the theatre’s Facebook page.

 

 

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Memories of Murder

Posted on March 3, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

How about a Throwback Thursday Post?  I make it a question, because I am not sure I will be able to actually make the post.  I make it to work these days.  Beyond that,  no promises.

We’ve seen this suspicious bunch before.

I wanted to throw back to murder mysteries, because I was working on another one today.  The above picture is from A G.R.A.V.E. Murder, which we presented a few years ago to benefit Herkimer County Historical Society.  It was a very fun show.

Another shot from that show.

I realized the first picture did not include our friend Jim, who had a pivotal role in the show.  I guess all the roles were pivotal; I just like to use that word to describe acting roles.

A dramatic moment.

Here is a rehearsal shot from another murder mystery, whose title escapes me.  How embarrassing! Then again, I can’t remember everything.

Don’t we all look pretty?

I remember the title of this one: Fabulous and Fatal.  It will always be one of my favorite scripts.

It was a work in progress.

This is a shot from a read-through for Donate to Murder, which also benefited Herkimer County Historical Society.  Eventually.  This picture was taken in March 2020, right before the COVID shit hit the fan.  The show was postponed and had a different cast when it was finally performed.

Regular readers will notice my late husband, Steve, in a few of these pictures.  I so loved working with him. Treasured memories.  I hope it made for a good blog post.

 

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Monsters, Murder and Memories at Mid-Week

Posted on February 2, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

I can call this a Blogger’s Sick Day or a Blogger’s Stress Day (I think that might be a new one), but I am making yet another post about not making a decent blog post.  Some may find it frustrating that I am sharing no details about my sickness or stress.  Others will be happy to be spared the sordid details.  I always say explanations are tiresome.

Unrelated but amusing photo.

I throw in a picture to pep things up.  I had thought to make this a Mid-Week Monsters Post, so here we are.

The fact is that even when undergoing great personal trauma (accuse me of overdramatizing if you like), I cling to my image of myself as a writer.  I have not traditionally experienced great success in writing about what bothers me.  What often happens is that as I write, I think, “Wow, I am really justified in feeling upset!”  And I get even more upset.  Go figure.

We have always been a lovely couple.

I have experienced greater success in distracting myself from my problems, if not with monsters, then with memories.  The picture shows my husband Steven and I in Fabulous and Fatal, a murder mystery we presented to benefit the Herkimer County Historical Society.

OK, that got me over 200 words.  I’ll call it a blog post and hope for a better one tomorrow.

 

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Making with the Memories

Posted on January 27, 2023 by mohawkvalleygirl

If I make a Throwback Thursday Post a day late, that just means I am throwing back by one more day.  Another thing one may judge me on:  I am not going to worry about sharing pictures I have shared before.  For one reason (some may call it a rationalization, but I decline to enter into any such argument), some readers may not have seen the particular pictures I choose or they may enjoy seeing them again.

What a long introduction.  Perhaps I should go back to writing my blog posts in advance and doing a little more editing.  For right now, I’d better make with the pictures.

I’m not taking any of his nonsense.

Here is a throwback to 2012 and the Ilion Little Theatre production of Harvey.  I played Veda.  My husband, Steven, was Dr. Chumley.  How I loved being on stage with my husband!

Again, I was not putting up with his nonsense.

Here we are on stage together again, in Splitting Issues, again at Ilion Little Theatre.  I forget the year and am too lazy to look it up.

I dished out the nonsense in this show.

I was actually looking for a different murder mystery picture, but this is a great theatre memory,  A G.R.A.V.E. Murder, presented at Mohawk American Legion to benefit Herkimer County Historical Society.  That reminds me, I’d better get writing on my upcoming productions.  Off to make more memories!

 

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I Creep into a Monstrous Monday Post

Posted on November 15, 2022 by mohawkvalleygirl

Hello and welcome to another Monstrous Monday Post.  It has not been a horrible Monday.  It rarely is.  My life is not that bad, which makes my persistent depression difficult to understand and not a little embarrassing.  However,  my purpose now is to entertain myself and (I hope) others with a few creepy-crawlies, or perhaps gruesome movie villains.

Is he as villainous as he looks?

Here is one of the masters, Vincent Price.  I believe this is a publicity shot from House on Haunted Hill, which features the immortal line, said to Price by his onscreen wife, “Darling, the only ghoul in this house is you.”

I don’t think he is bidding us velcome.

And here is one of our finest ghouls, Bela Lugosi as Count Dracula.  He is looking rather malevolent in this picture.

Crazy love? Insane love? No, it’s…

I was hoping to find a creepy-crawly but will make do with creepy:  Peter Lorre in Mad Love, one of my favorites.

Not from a movie, but they will do!

Here are a couple of crawlies!  They were props for a murder mystery.  I do love fake bugs and often use them in my home decor.

I guess my gruesome friends have cheered me up.  At least I have made my blog post, which always adds to my level of contentment.  I will try for a more Mohawk Valley-oriented post tomorrow,  but, as usual, no promises.  Creep and crawl on, my friends!

 

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